In Awe

Devotion for the week...

Did you watch the eclipse last Monday, either in person or online? We drove about 90 minutes to get into the path of totality and it was so worth it! I had never experienced a total eclipse before, and it was such an amazing experience there aren't words to describe it. We wore eclipse glasses to watch as the moon traveled across the sun. The glasses are 10,000 times darker than sunglasses and with them on we could see nothing except the sun. Nothing! Then, at totality, when I took the glasses down and looked at the sun completely covered by the moon, with the corona shining around it, I teared up to the point I almost couldn't talk, though I did manage to choke out, "That is soooo cool!" Everyone around us was saying some version of the same thing, or just saying, "Wow!" I am so glad I got to experience it in person.

On Wednesday during my morning devotions, I read part of Psalm 65, including verse 8, which says, "Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders." Immediately I thought of the eclipse. Awe is exactly the right word for what I experienced for the minute and a half of totality, and still feel whenever I think about it.

I'm certainly not alone in that feeling. I saw so many social media posts from others in the path of totality who were amazed by what they saw. During the eclipse, people all over the world stood in awe of His wonders. Whether they were in the path of totality or watching it streamed online, whether they acknowledge God as their Creator or not, they stared at the sun as it was eclipsed by the moon and they were in awe.

Some of them saw only the science, not the Creator who set the paths of the sun, the moon, and the earth in place to bring them together for that moment. Some of them saw only a beautiful natural event, not the One who designed all of nature. That they didn't see Him doesn't change that He was the cause of their awe.

Psalm 19:1-4 says, "The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world." Last Monday the heavens shouted about His glory to anyone willing to listen.